Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95906 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 480(@200wpm)___ 384(@250wpm)___ 320(@300wpm)
Before I could even finish my sentence, I found myself flat on my back and Con above me, his heavy body pressing me into the mattress.
“I would have,” he whispered.
“Would have what?” I asked breathlessly.
Con dropped his mouth so it was nearly touching mine. But instead of kissing me, he rubbed his nose against mine. The brief contact had me arching up against him.
“I would have been proud to walk down every one of those red carpets with you at my side.” His lips skimmed the side of my mouth. “Only you, Micah.”
His words stole my breath as surely as his touch did. But instead of taking my mouth the way I was expecting him to—no, needing him to—Con let out a rough breath, closed his eyes and then pressed his forehead against mine like he was trying to get control of himself. “Sorry,” he murmured with a shake of his head.
It wasn’t until he began to lift his weight off of me that I realized what was happening.
“No, Con, don’t. Please,” I croaked because I knew I wouldn’t survive it if he left me. I clasped his neck and squeezed my eyes shut. “You can’t… you can’t just say that to me and…” I shook my head almost frantically. “You just can’t.”
“Micah—”
“No,” I repeated, then I pulled him down and captured his mouth with mine. My entire body jolted as Con’s lips met my own. But the scorching kiss lasted mere seconds and then Con was tearing his mouth away.
“Micah—” he began, his eyes closed and his expression grim.
I knew I needed to apologize but I couldn’t. I couldn’t say anything. My body was too alive with equal parts energy and disappointment.
But instead of pulling away from me, Con said, “Open your eyes.”
I hadn’t realized I’d shut them but I automatically did as he said. His brown eyes were burning. I could feel his body locked up tight and if I hadn’t known he would never hurt me, I would have feared him.
“Be sure,” Con demanded. “Because I’m not putting a fucking pin in this tomorrow. Not in this.”
He sounded… tortured.
For me? Did he really want me that badly?
Me?
I didn’t even have to think about my answer. “No pins,” I said with a shake of my head and then I was pulling him down to me. I didn’t allow myself any time to think about the consequences because I just didn’t give a damn about them.
“No pins,” I softly repeated right before Con’s lips claimed mine.
Chapter Nineteen
Con
Despite my body's raging need, my brain managed to hold on to some level of sanity as I took ownership of Micah's mouth. He tasted as sweet as he always did but unlike most of our previous kisses, Micah didn’t hesitate to take what he wanted. He returned my kiss with fervor, but I wanted to savor this moment. I knew that come morning, he could still end up regretting what was about to happen between us, but I couldn't focus on that.
Here and now, Con.
As I settled more of my weight onto Micah's body, I could feel that he was as hard as I was. I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I was getting this chance.
This chance to start over with him.
A clean slate.
No fucking way was I going to mess it up. The stakes were just too high.
While there was no question about the physical chemistry I had with Micah, in the past several days I'd found even more reasons to believe he was it for me. That he was the one.
I'd already known he was completely and totally devoted to his niece and nephew, but I'd gotten to see other sides of him too. It was the little things, like how he was kind of a neat freak and how he hummed quietly to himself whenever he was focused on something. He was smart and funny and sweet and always worried about everybody having what they needed. He liked scary movies, but he absolutely loved romantic ones. He was fascinated by nature shows but always closed his eyes whenever some critter met their doom. With every little discovery, I’d lost another piece of my heart to him. And now I finally had the opportunity to show him what I couldn't tell him. What I didn't think he was ready to hear.
So yeah, I took my time savoring his kiss, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t hyperaware of everything else that was happening. Like how sparks of electricity lit up my skin as he skimmed his fingers up and down my sides.
Even as I kissed Micah and he responded with everything that he was, I knew I had to be careful. Although he was very much into what was happening between us, his past meant he had limits and I wanted to make sure I didn't do anything to push past them.